Can't Hide a Black Eye
by NotascrazyasI
Summary: This was new. The bullies had never gotten violent before. There was always just harsh words and public embarrassments, but never anything like punching or kicking. I had always thought of myself as a verbal punching bag for the bullies but never before had they actually hit me. And why so stupid as to hit me in the face?


_**Can't Hide a Black Eye**_

_**Who wants to watch Germany beat the shit out of fuck-faced bullies? Who wants to kill me for doing this to Italy? Join the club... school AU. Not Gakuen AU, normal everyday school AU.**_

_**GerIta, with a little bit of RomaSey thrown in at the end just for the halibut (See what I did there?)**_

_**I don't own Hetalia. If I did, do you think I would really be wasting my time writing this? I mean, I'd be making these fantasies into realities!**_

This was new. The bullies had never gotten violent before. There was always just harsh words and public embarrassments, but never anything like punching or kicking. I had always thought of myself as a verbal punching bag for the bullies but never before had they actually hit me. And why so stupid as to hit me in the face?

I couldn't help but grimace at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. The purplish bruise around my right eye and the grimace made me look like a stranger even to myself. There was no way I could go to school that day, let alone allow fratello to see this. He was much too protective. And he couldn't know about this. Nobody was allowed to know, not even my best friend/object of my love, Ludwig. But especially not Lovino.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, I heard my brother's impatient banging on the door. "Fratellino! I need to take a shower before school! Hurry up!" I flinched and glanced around me. I needed to find something to hide the bruise.

"Ve... Hold on Fratello!" I called out, willing my voice to sound cheerful. Why was smiling so hard lately? I didn't feel or act like myself anymore. Now, there were moments in my day where I would get sad or sometimes, I even got angry. Luddy's starting to wonder. If he found out... I didn't really know _what _would happen, just that I couldn't let it happen.

There! I grabbed the towel and started tot rub it into my hair, as if to dry it. At the same time, I ran out of the bathroom keeping my head low. "Tell Grandpa I'm not going to school for me, please!" I called behind me as I ran away from the the bathroom and ran away from my brother.

"What the hell!?" Fratello yelled after me. "Why?!" I didn't answer, just ran into my room and -softly- closed the door. Silently thanking Grandpa for making sure our rooms had locks, I turned the lock. Leaning against the now locked door, I let out a sad sigh, and placed a hand on my aching side. The pain made me grimace. It seemed more painful than a normal bruise, but not as bad as a broken rib. Probably deep muscle bruising. It still shocked me that they had gotten so physical.

Moving away from the door, I settled down at my desk. With a flourish, I opened the small black journal that was forever enshrined there. My own words shouted at me from the pages, screaming my deepest thoughts and secrets. No one, absolutely _no one _got to read my journal. Very few even knew about it. The things I wrote in there... it was just better if nobody read it.

I started to pour my heart out onto the creamy paper. My lines were uneven, my hand writing a scrawl, but that didn't really matter. The point of it was to unburden myself, it didn't matter if it looked good. I finished by signing my name and let loose a small sad sigh that before the bullying started, had never left my lips.

Just then, there was a loud knocking on my door and my brother's voice to match. "Fratello! If you don't go now, you'll be late!" He paused as if waiting for me to answer. When I didn't, he let out an angry sigh. "I told Grandpa you're sick." He muttered and I felt gratitude swell in my chest. I really did love my brother, so much. He was always there for me. Even as I knew this, though, I couldn't tell him about the bullies. I heard his footsteps as he started to leave.

Before he was out of earshot, I called out, "Thanks fratello! I'll make you pasta later!" It was promise I intended to keep, too. There was a chuckle from the hall before the sound of a door closing sounded and I was left alone in the house. Grandpa had already left for work. I let out a loud sigh now that I was alone and crawled onto my bed, stripping as I did so. I was suddenly exhausted and took very little time drifting off.

-Skippy-

An explosion sounded from the front of the house that had me jumping from my bed and sprinting to the front door, trembling. I flung it open only to reveal a very pissed looking German. When he saw my face, though, his own transformed to shock. "Feli! What the hell happened to you?!" I flinched a little and took a step back, seriously contemplating whether or not to just close the door in his face. A thought that had never before occurred to me before.

"I-It's nothing, Ludwig..." I muttered as I decided against closing the door. That would make him suspicious and besides... I needed some Luddytime to cheer me up!

Not that my words didn't already make him suspicious. "What do you mean, 'nothing'?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. Already, I saw anger in his gaze. "You've got a black eye, Feliciano!"

I kept my facade going. "It's really nothing Luddy. I just fell, is all!"

He just glared at me. "What really happened?"

I chose to ignore him, and changed the subject with a whine, "Luddy~ I'm hungry! Let's go make pasta~" It was a common complaint, but for once, it was merely a lie to distract him. I turned towards the kitchen.

Ludwig wouldn't let it go. "Come on, Feli! Why won't you tell me? It couldn't be that bad right?" I resisted the urge to shoot him a look over my shoulder that would be rather uncharacteristic, excluding as of late. Was he nuts? Of course it could be!

"What kinda pasta does Luddy want?" I asked, keeping my back to him as I headed for the kitchen. Might as well have some breakfast since I wasn't going to school. Speaking of which... I stopped and twirled around on the balls of my feet. "Why aren't you at school, Luddy?"

His face was slightly upset, but he rolled my eyes when I asked this. "The sophomores have the day off today because of some freshman thing that's going on." He shrugged, then gave me a meaningful glance that said I should know this, which I should've. I was a freshman after all. But, since that was my personality the freshman ceremony thingy had completely slipped my mind. I also had certain _things _for an excuse, not that I would actually use that excuse.

"Ve~ I forgot~" I sang as cheerfully as I could muster. My side started to throb. I retreated as quickly as I could to the safety of my kitchen. It was dark before I flipped the switch and half blinded myself. I muttered a near silent curse in Italiano, before walking the rest of the way in. Today was just not a good day, was it? I got what I needed for the pasta making and then started to chatter about this cat I saw. Well, I _did _see the cat, but only when I was on the ground groaning in pain. Of course, I left that part out and made up a bit here and there. Hey, I had an A in creative writing so why not use that knowledge.

"Feli." Suddenly, Ludwig was _right _behind me, so close I could actually feel his body heat. "Feli, what really happened?" He placed a hand on my side to pull me around to face him, but before he could do that, I dropped the box of noodles I held in my grasp and groaned in pain. "Ow-ow!" I cried, jumping away from the German and gently touching my side with my right hand. A grimace slipped through my previously happy mask. "Cazzo that hurt!" I had really lost it. My cheerfulness was blown to bits and all that was left was a slight bitterness and the throbbing in my side.

Ludwig stared at me in utter shock and my face slowly grew hot. I couldn't help myself but break down and sob. Despite the display of weakness, it wasn't the way the Feliciano he knew would cry. I slid to the ground and curled in on myself, burying my face into my knees. The sobs shook my whole body, an odd sound falling from my lips.

Arms wrapped around me and drew me into a warm -albeit beer smelling- chest. I looked up with surprise into soft blue eyes. "Shh, it's okay, Feli." He muttered, brushing a strand of my hair from my forehead before replacing it's absence with a tender kiss. A whimper passed through my cracked lips and I buried my face into his fine fitting T-shirt.

"Ludwig!" I sobbed into his chest, his strong arms slowing my shaking but not the tears flowing from my eyes. "Ludwig, Ludwig!" I kept repeating his name, like a mantra that was the only thing that kept me sane. "I-I-I can't tell you why!" It was actually painful to say these words, the pain quickening my tears.

Ludwig just held me, but there was a slight stiffness from him that proved I had probably just hurt his feelings. I could also tell he tried not to ask, but he had to, for concern for me. "Why Feli? What is so bad that you can't tell me?"

I whispered the single word into his chest, but I'm certain all he felt was a brief movement of my lips against the fabric. This time, he didn't ask. Slowly, in the Germans warm and safe embrace I started to feel tired once again. I quickly fell into a deep sleep.

-POV CHANGE-

Once I could tell Feli had fallen asleep, I picked him up in my arms and cradled him protectively against my chest. Whatever had just happened hadn't been brought on by a simple fall. This wasn't the Feliciano I had gotten used to. Something had broken him. Or, angered him. I still couldn't believe the little Italian had actually _cussed_! That might've just blown his brain out. I shook my head, remembering my crush cradled in my arms. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, like an Engel.

I walked carefully towards the little Italian's bedroom -the door at the very end of the hall- and opened the door further with a tap from my foot. Once inside, I placed the smaller teen onto his bed gently and sat down beside him. I watched as his breath flowed evenly through his thin -tempting- lips, before something caught my eye. It appeared to be a book left open by the teen who resided in this room. Something about it tugged at my curiosity, so I stood up and walked over to the desk it lay on.

At first glanced it had looked to be a book, but now as I managed to read the messy scribbles, I realized it was journal. _This is wrong! _I thought sternly._ You're invading his privacy! _But then, a word caught my eye. _Bullies. _A sharp intake of breath later and fury engulfed me. My_ Feli was being tormented by fucking _bullies_?! __If they did this to him_... I was too angry to finish the threat. I needed to know exactly what happened too Feli, so I sat down and started to read today's entry.

_Yesterday was different. I think I made them angry, for instead of insulting me they... hit me. I hate how weak I am. I couldn't fight back, even if I knew how. I am too weak, despite all of Luddy's training._ _Anyway, as I was saying before, they beat me up and then just left me there. I was found by Tonio. He was kind enough to take me home, but I had to beg him not to tell Lovino. Oh Dio, if Lovi ever finds out about the bullies... That can't happen! No one can find out! If they do they would all be upset, and they'd realize how weak I am. If Ludwig found out... he might not like me anymore... I don't want that to happen! Even if he doesn't love me the way I do, I still want to be friends! I can't give that up, even if it means enduring this ceaseless bullying. For Ludwig... I can be strong._

_Feliciano._

"Oh, Feli..." I whispered, pain cutting into my chest as I realized I was the reason Feli was getting bullied. Not only that, but I hadn't been protecting him like I should have been. I had let Feli get hurt by these fuck-faces. But that would all stop now! First, I had to set the little Italian straight, then I had to do something about those bullies.

I stepped back towards my little Italian's bed and gently shook his shoulder to wake him. For once, he sprung right awake. He was usually such a heavy sleeper. He sat up quickly in bed, only for a look of pain to wash over his face, and him gently touch his side again. "Ugh..." He breathed, before he noticed me. "Ve! Ludwig! You're still here!" A happy -Feli- look replaced the pain.

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't just going to leave you here alone while your hurt." Then I got down to business. "Feli, I've got something to confess..." He just stared at me kind of blankly so I went on. "Well Feliciano, you are the strongest, cutest, most amazing person I know. You are so amazing it takes my breath away." My lips curled up into a smile. "You surprise me daily, but that's not always a bad thing." Stress on always. "You are so strong, though you may not think that way about yourself. I-" I bit my lip and watched the look of shock on the Italian's face before continuing, "Ich liebe dich, Feliciano. Ti amo."

The look on Feli's face then could've melted Antarctica. He beamed at me, his amber eyes swimming with joy, before he wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me into a delighted kiss. All evidence of the broken teen I had seen minutes before gone.

-POV CHANGE BACK-

I don't know what happened, but for whatever reasons, the next day my bullies came up to me asking for my forgiveness. They were really banged up too. I wondered if they had fallen. I had actually been with Lovi at the time who gave them all odd looks and told them to, "Get the fuck away from my brother and while your at it, _go to hell_!" And he didn't even no about the bullying. Fratello's just funny like that~

Luddy asked me out that same day, in front of _everyone_ during an assembly. He just walked right up to the stage, took the microphone from the principal and said, "Feliciano Vargas, will you go out with me?" And Lizzy -who had been sitting next to me at the time- made me stand up and handed me a mic of my own. Of course I said yes right away and the entire school erupted into cheers. Even fratello, who's always hated Ludwig, smiled for me. I think he was just happy that I was happy.

Something else happened that day, that didn't really happen to me per se, but still made me immeasurably happy. It happened at the very very end of the school day. Lovi and I had just been packing up to head home when Chelly came running up to us, a blush dominated her face. She said that Luddy's confession had inspired her. She kissed Lovi right there in the middle of the hall and said, "Je t'aime!" Lovi went so red! It was so funny! But of course he said he loved her right back, and then he asked her out! I was so happy for them!

This might've been the best day of my life. At the very least, the best day of the last three months.

**_And that would be the end. I know, I know. "You bitch how could you do that to Italy!" and then, "Awwww! Happy ending~" Anyway, I hate myself right now, even though there was a happy ending. I keep doing mean things to Italy! First, I killed him in My Other Half, and now I bullied him! I'm such a horrible person!_**

**_But... if you reviewed and said it was a good fic, I might not hate myself as much. At the very least, I'll be cheered up enough to write more stories! :D_**

**_Kiwi \(*0*)/_**

**_P.S. If your wondering why I threw in the RomaSey at the very end, it's simple. I wanted to give Italy something else to be happy about and three's a lucky number so... yeah. Random, I know._**


End file.
